Hop Requirements

General Considerations

Hops and a range of hop products can be used to bitter cask conditioned beers and it is often the practice to dry hop them.

Beer bitterness is largely derived from the hop alpha acids and variety is of very little importance with regard to the quality of the bitter taste. In breweries with hop backs it may not be possible to use hops with high alpha acid content because they give insufficient depth of spent hops on the base plate to retain the hot break.

The variety of hops can have a marked effect on the intensity and quality of the hop character of beer. Liquid carbon dioxide extracts, which contain high levels of hop oils, show good storage characteristics and provide a convenient way of introducing hop character.

Range of Values

The overall range of bitterness is 22 – 35 B.U. For a particular brand the tolerance is ±2 B.U. of the specified level.